Meet Bimbot Anquilo.
At 5-foot-1, an athlete with that height may have a hard time entering a collegiate basketball league, but the 'Little Chief' actually made it in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
Anquilo played for Arellano University back in 2009, the league's 85th season.
Despite making it to the big league, some people still made fun of Anquilo.
"May nagsabi na fan na ‘Uy ,'yung mascot ng Arellano, maglalaro.’ 'Yun yung parang nag-motivate sa akin na sige, dito ko papatunayan na mali 'yung tingin n'yo sakin. (There was a fan who said 'Hey, Arellano's mascot is playing.' That motivated me to prove them wrong)," he said in Chino Trinidad's 24 Oras report.
"Di ko tinitingnan 'yung sarili ko na maliit sa court. Gusto ko ang tingin nila sa akin, higante (I did not see myself as small on court. I want them to see me as a giant)." he added.
After his collegiate stint, he eventually tried out for a team playing in a commercial league. However, he said the coach did not even give him a chance, again, because of his height.
Anquilo went home after that, and up to now, he still regrets what happened.
"I should've not listened to him. I should've continued to do what I wanted to do," he said in Filipino.
This experience is one of the lessons that Anquilo will teach to young players, with him being an assistant coach for the Arellano juniors team.
"They should not listen to the negative things that other people say to them. Based on my experience, now I'm regretting it. I did not even have a chance to step there," he shared.
"I'll tell them that it should not reach a point that they will regret it because they listened to other people they thought were right."
Watch Arellano and the rest of the other teams of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) which will air on different platforms of GMA Network. —Justin Kenneth Carandang/JMB, GMA News
